onsdag 10 augusti 2016

Off the grid and news around the world

Didn’t a UN Special Rapporteur report conclude that access to internet is a human right? Or did they settle on technology being an enabler of rights and not a right in itself? I don’t know, and I’m in no good position to google it right now.

They say two weeks before it’s up and running in our new apartment. That's an unusually long time to be off the grid. I assume that this post will hit the web soon enough though. I have my phone and can always post it via that one. Flashback to my second apartement in Munich 2012.

Ok, so if we don't get to play with the web, let’s go old school. How did people read about Magic in 1994?

The Duelist #1, January 1994

That's the first ever printed Magic magazine. ”The official Deckmaster(tm) magazine”, no less. There’s some info on hot upcoming releases here, like Antiquities in February and the ”much-demanded” Pocket Player’s Guide in March. I kinda get that it was much-demanded; when all the available rules were contained in the original rule book, things got weird quickly. The ABU rule books encourage solving rules conflicts with coin flips, and suggests handling timing issues by not playing a lot of spells.

The magazine is ripe with classic 90s cockiness and corny fantasy references. I kinda get why we might have gotten roasted in school in the mid 90s for playing Magic when reading this. The strategy is low-level as well, mostly things like that Circles of Protection are not the same thing as Wards, and to have a chance to beat circles you should play more than one color. Lets drop this and find an old school fanzine instead. Maybe some deeper tech.

Lord of the Pit #2, 1994

Hm. Something about the Magic culture in 1994 makes players really want to show off how rad they are, more so than just the casual cockiness we saw in The Duelist. There’s a surprising amount of references (or just statements) about them having sex and having access to alcohol. I can’t think of any article I’ve read on ChannelFireball or StarCityGames where the writers brag about how many times they’ve managed to have sex in one evening. Sure, there are writers who indulge in the combination of alcohol and Magic (this blog would be an example, and of course the MtgUnderground), but I’d like to think that’s more of a narrative device than e.g. an off the cuff suggestion that you should mix 10 cl green Chantreause and 10 cl black Sambuca and call it Bayou. Not a bad idea per say, but needs context.

We were a punchable bunch

I need something fresher. The printed media of 1994 doesn’t cut it for me right now. Let’s see what we find in the note-folder on the laptop.

...

Hey, found a sweet mail from Francesc in Spain:

”So far the Old School MTG players group in Sant Feliu de Llobregat (yeah, this place exists) is a reality but alas not everyone has their decks ready. And as everyone is going on vacation or leaves town (or even the country) for several weeks we agreed to do our first Old School MTG beatdown in September.

Sant Feliu 93/94 crew logo

At this very moment the only deck ready to be played is my unpowered mono black that goes by the pet name 'Stout' but the other guys are brewing their own decks (some of them didn't have many cards from back in the day so the process is a bit more difficult for them than it was for me), the most complete one is so far a UR burn (unpowered as well).

"Stout" deck

We go by the Ravenna ruleset so it will speed up the process but we all agreed that once our decks are fully assembled we'll pursuit full 93/94 legal decks (you can spot obvious revised and italian editions in the pic).

As a final note and thought we are enjoying the building process immensely, a part not to be dismissed when playing (well, before even playing) old school.

Have an amazing summer all of you cardslingers ;)”

Good man. Speaking of the Italian rules, there will be a showdown in Camaiore (Italy) in October, which looks simply awesome. I'll just cut and paste from the facebook event:

Entry: 20 EuroFirst Prize: Arabian Nights Fishliver Oil signed by all participants and a Cup.Second Prize: Nothing at all (there is only on winner, right?)Special: All participants will have a chance to win in the UNLIMITED TIMETWISTER RAFFLE taking place before the second round.Additional prizes: other prizes will be revealed in the upcoming weeks.Bonus feature: The 2016 Noobcon world champion Martin Berlin have been invited and will be flown in by the organizers to compete in the tournament. That's the first edition of a new recurring event and we want to establish a tradition every year offering a free plane ticket to the winner of Noobcon to play for a Fishliver Oil in Italy.

Rules: We will follow the so-called "Ravenna Rules", which means Swedish standard rules as described on http://oldschool-mtg.blogspot.it/p/banrestriction.html allowing additional editions (Alpha, Beta, Unlimited, Revised, Fbb ITA-FR-DE, Fwb ITA-FR-DE, Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, Leggende, The Dark, L'Oscurità, Renaissance, Rinascimento).
The tournament will include a swiss (last two rounds untimed - intentional draws are not allowed!) and a single elimination top-8.
”

If I’m going to book one flight for a Magic trip this year, this is the one. Plans are in motion. Need a Fishliver Oil for my monoblue suicide deck.

Better than Terror with Merfolk Assassin.

Before that though, I’m going to Stockholm next weekend to play the ”From Russia with Love” tournament, battling with guys like David Chambers from San Francisco and Constantine from Russia, both of whom by a chance were to visit Sweden in late August. Gordon Andersson and the Stockholm crew quickly organized a tournament for the occasion. Looks like I’m the lone player coming from Norway though, as they hastily reached the cap on the available seats in the tournament.

The top8 of that tournament will be settled with 93/94 Cube draft btw. Cube courtesy of Martin Berlin.

So, I guess that’s the end of the rant for today. If you need some more solid old school tech, Geena has posted a new article about the sligh archetype. Well researched, and a great read. Far more consistent than this rambling here ;) Danny Friedman has also updated the Understanding Ancestral Recall blog with a new post about the Relic War tournament in Chicago. Some solid Power Artifact tech. And one rad innovator has just started an instagram account chronicling 93/94 Magic cards using 93/94 computer graphics. Check out www.instagram.com/8bit_mtg and nod humbly at the Flying Men :)

Let's cap off today with a picture of Axelsson’s UB Suicidal Tendencies from Wexio:

8 kommentarer:

Hallo, I am very intersted in the old school cube. I am not really a builder, so I have to ask - is it possible to get the actual cube list?I know in this threat somewhere deeper was some, but with older date.I really want to try to Play it with my friends. :-)

Hi Petr!You can find links to two cube lists (Berlin's and Brorsan's) in this post: http://oldschool-mtg.blogspot.no/2015/12/old-school-cube.html.

I've also had good experience with playing Viktor "Oldschool" Peterson's 93/94 combo-cube (as noted at http://oldschool-mtg.blogspot.no/2016/01/tech-from-sehlskapsspelen-2015.html), though I unfortunately don't have access to his exact list.

I'm always glad to read an update on this blog, but this time it's special: you mentioned our tournament! Thank you!If you need any info or help with the trip planning, please get in touch (this is valid for any player travelling to compete in the cup, by the way).See you in Italy!

Not really on topic, but I just encountered a newsgroup post from January 4th, 1995, which sounds quite funny from today's perspective. :)It's from Robert S. Hahn, the author of the famous "Schools of Magic"-series on The Dojo and shows that the understanding of some of the best cards in the format was still rather poorly developed in early 95.

---------------------------Library of Alexandria uses?

I'm a wee bit confused about this card. It's been listed as one of themost powerful cards in the game, and "card dominance" was brought up on anumber of others. But reading the description, I'm not sure I see why.As I understand it, LoAlex allows you to draw 1 card if you have 7 in hand.So instead of having 8 after Draw phase, you can have 9. Maybe i'm notseeing something here, but why does that make such a huge difference thatLib.Alexandria is appreciably close to Time Elemental in price and moreexpensive than the Sylvan Library?

Easy. It allows you to draw 1 more card each turn giving you card advantage. Can be combo'd with Candelabra of Tawnos for one. Not good in all decks since it limits the cards to play each turn but timetwister and wheel of fortune may fill your hand back to 7